The 2014 Major League Baseball season is upon us, and we’ll take a look at the odds to win the World Series and some teams that present some value. The complete listing of World Series odds can be found at the bottom of this post, courtesy of JustBet.

The New York Yankees are currently 14/1 (@ JustBet) to win the series, and wouldn’t it be a great sendoff for the future Hall of Famer Derek Jeter? The Yankees made some big off-season acquisitions, signing CF Jacoby Ellsbury, RF Carlos Beltran, C Brian McCann, and Japanese pitching prospect Masahiro Tanaka. The Yankees lost Mariano Rivera to retirement, and 2B Robinson Cano to free agency. Their lineup looks potent and could be a factor in the loaded AL East if 1B Mark Teixeira and Jeter can stay healthy. Their rotation looks respectable, with Tanaka, left-hander C.C. Sabathia, and the young Ivan Nova, who looks like he could have a breakout season. New York has been planning for departure of Rivera, and David Robertson has been groomed well for the closers role. In a loaded division, any team could win and it could very well be the New York Yankees.

I’m seeing some value in the Pittsburgh Pirates at 28/1  (@ JustBet). The Pirates made their first postseason appearance in over 20 years last season, and look to get back to the postseason with a very talented, yet underrated lineup. They are led by 2013 NL MVP CF Andrew McCutcheon, and have the key parts to make a postseason run. Also in the order are 3B Pedro Alvarez, who hit 36 HR’s last season, and young LF Starling Marte. They have the pitching, with left-hander Francisco Liriano, and the up and coming Gerrit Cole. They also have another hurler in waiting, in young right-hander Jameson Taillon, the 2010 second overall pick. The bullpen was one of the best in the majors last season, with Mark Melancon and Jason Grilli pitching magnificently. Can we expect a repeat performance? Maybe, but at 28/1 the Pittsburgh Pirates deserve some consideration.

The Seattle Mariners look like an attractive play at 33/1  (@ JustBet). The Mariners not only signed the superstar second baseman, but also added some key role players in DH slugger Corey Hart and RF Logan Morrison. They also have LF Dustin Ackley, who could be poised for a breakout season, and 3B sparkplug Kyle Seagar. The promising 24-year-old centerfielder Abraham Almonte could be the centerfielder of the future, and will more than likely be called up at some point this season. The rotation is of course led by none other than ‘King’ Felix Hernandez, and Hisashi Iwakuma. Iwakuma should be ready to go in mid-April, as him and Hernandez pose one of the better 1-2 punch combo’s in the American league. In a division that has teams struggling with injuries (A’s, Rangers), Seattle could be one of the surprise teams this season.

Current 2014 World Series Odds From JustBet Sportsbook (as of 4/1/2013)
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Los Angeles Dodgers      13/2
St. Louis Cardinals           15/2
Detroit Tigers                     9/1
Washington Nationals    10/1
Boston Red Sox                 12/1
Tampa Bay Rays                12/1
New York Yankees          14/1
Atlanta Braves                   16/1
San Francisco Giants       16/1
Texas Rangers                   16/1
Los Angeles Angels         20/1
Oakland Athletics             20/1
Cincinnati Reds                 25/1
Toronto Blue Jays            25/1
Pittsburgh Pirates            28/1
Baltimore Orioles             33/1
Kansas City Royals           33/1
Philadelphia Phillies        33/1
Seattle Mariners                33/1
Cleveland Indians             40/1
Arizona Diamondbacks  50/1
San Diego Padres             50/1
Chicago White Sox           66/1
Milwaukee Brewers       66/1
Chicago Cubs                     75/1
Colorado Rockies             75/1
New York Mets                 75/1
Miami Marlins                   100/1
Minnesota Twins             100/1
Houston Astros                 250/1

It was an awkward week of sports betting action, as the start of the baseball betting season continued to cross with red hot sporting events on the ice, hardwood, and links. Here’s what we’re ranting about this week at Bankroll Sports!

Rap Sheet Picture of the Week
New York Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist, who was the losing goalie in Sunday’s elimination game for the final slot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Tiger Woods is really getting under my skin right now, and for various reasons. Not only am I irked that the entire PGA Tour betting event this week at the Masters was covered by Tiger this and Tiger that, but I also hate how everyone said that Woods couldn’t figure out how to put this together after taking six months away from the Tour. He’s still Tiger Freaking Woods. No, Tiger didn’t win it on Sunday, but he sure had his dramatic moments to finish just a few shots behind and with yet another Top 10 finish in a major. That being said, I’m still ticked that everyone spent so much time talking about Tiger that there were two stories that just totally went under the radar. Good thing that Phil Mickelson won the event, or no one would’ve ever remembered the name of the winner. I mean really… why not just give Tiger the Green Jacket, too? After all, he was the center of this whole ordeal these past four days, right? And why no love for 16-year old Matteo Manassero, who made the cut and finished at +4 for the tournament? If this kid can finish +4 at the age of 16 and make the Masters cut, maybe there’s another Tiger Woods on our hands that we’ll be discussing in a few years.

A week into MLB betting action and we already have a little bit of history… and not the good kind either. How’s about allowing a whopping 13 runs in an inning? Nice job, Pittsburgh Pirates. The 13 run outburst featured eight hits, four walks, three homers (one of which was to Edwin Jackson, the pitcher, who spent the last couple seasons in the American League), a triple, and a tad bit of miserable fielding to boot. It took three pitchers to get through the frame for the Bucs, as Darren McCutchen, Hayden Penn, and Jack Taschner were all used and all touched up. If you’re interested, through one week of play, McCutchen has an ERA of 24.30 and Penn has one of 30.86. Stellar ball, guys. Stellar.

Let’s take a stab at the Boston Celtics as well. Just a week after watching the San Antonio Spurs get destroyed by the New Jersey Nets, the C’s pulled off one just as sharp. In the fight for the #3 seed in the Eastern Conference, they were knocked off by the lowly Washington Wizards on their home court 106-96. Even more embarrassing was the fact that they put up 42 points in the 4th quarter and still were beaten and beaten badly. The Wiz outscored Boston 52-31 in a very uninspired first half of ball. Over their L/52 games, the Celtics are only 27-25 after starting 18 games over .500 over the first couple months of the year. That won’t cut it in the playoffs, that’s for sure.

Sportsbook.com is an excellent sportsbook for betting MLB futures! Today, we’re taking at look at some of the juiciest season win totals that you can dig into for the 2010 season!

New York Yankees Over 95.5 Wins: Let’s just analyze the Yankees in a really quick nutshell, because no one wants to admit outside of the Bronx that they’re betting on the Yankees to do well. But this was a team that won 103 games last season and is just better this year than it was a year ago. Yes, both DHs Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui have moved on, but new DH Nick Johnson can really tear the cover off the baseball, and replacement OF Curtis Granderson could go 30/30 by taking potshots at those short porches in left and right field at New Yankee Stadium. Add RHP Javier Vazquez into the mix, and the recipe is just far too ripe to pass on the boys in pinstripes.

Kansas City Royals Over 72 Wins: Now here’s a team that we like and like quite a bit. Before we even look at anything that the Royals did in the offseason, just take a look at the rest of the division. The Twins certainly are not a better team than they were a year ago, as SS Orlando Cabrera and closer Joe Nathan are both gone. Detroit lost both SP Edwin Jackson and OF Curtis Granderson and only got back SP Max Scherzer of any note in return. Chicago is still a time bomb waiting to happen. Just from that standpoint alone, Kansas City should find a few more wins in divisional play. That being said, this is clearly a better team than the one that won 65 games last year. C Jason Kendall will bring some stability to a pitching staff that really hasn’t had a competent defensive catcher ever, and OFs Scott Podsednik and Rick Ankiel should be notable upgrades on what was playing in the outfield last year for this team. We tend to think that KC can compete, though we’d just be happy to see it reach 73 ‘W’s.

Pittsburgh Pirates Under 69.5 Wins: Newsflash: The Pirates aren’t very good. They’re not going to get any better this year either. The Bucs are almost certainly the worst team in baseball. Their pitching staff isn’t anything to write home about, and their lineup is basically 2B Akinori Iwamura and a ton of guys that are barely old enough to drink a beer, let alone rent a car. Everyone in Steeltown knows that another 100-loss season could very well be on the horizon, and there’s nothing stopping us from saying that they won’t touch a 70-win barrier that they haven’t reached since 2004.

Houston Astros Under 73.5 Wins: This is almost a bit of a prospective futures bet than anything else. What we’re hoping for out of the ‘Stros this year is that 1B Lance Berkman and OF Carlos Lee both get traded. If that’s the case, this is a team that will almost certainly rival Pittsburgh for the gutter in the NL Central. Let’s also realize that Milwaukee and Cincinnati are both going to be competing with the Cubs and Cardinals for divisional supremacy, so it is very possible to see two teams finish with at least 100 losses in the same division, particularly in one with six teams. Houston’s pitching staff is just woeful beyond SPs Wandy Rodriguez and Roy Oswalt, and taking SS Miguel Tejada out of this lineup is only going to make things that much worse for a team that didn’t have much of an offense last season either.

Washington Nationals Over 72 Wins: Are we insane for backing the Nats after they lost 103 games last season? It’s possible that we’ve gone a tad bit crazy, but we think that the boys from DC are in for a much better year this year than they had in ’09. Adding SP Jason Marquis to the front end of the rotation will help out John Lannan quite a bit, as will the inevitably moment that SP Stephen Strasburg comes up from the minor leagues. The lineup hasn’t been the issue with this team. 1B Adam Dunn and 3B Ryan Zimmerman can mash, no doubt, and OF Nyjer Morgan is expected to produce big things at the top of the order. But the staff ranked 28th in the majors last year with a 5.02 team ERA and absolutely must get better.

Within the National League Central, no team made a single impact move that will catapult a team into the World Series. But, the Cubs continue to have the best team in the division on paper, but as we have seen in past years, on paper means very little.

In Mesa Arizona, the Chicago Cubs are trying to figure out what went wrong in October of 2008. The Cubs flamed out in three straight games to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Chicago did not make any major additions to improve the team, but they did not have to in order to win the NL Central. The Cubs were close on acquiring Jake Peavy from San Diego, but were not able to pull the trigger. The Cubs did pick-up Milton Bradley to help in the outfield, and they also re-signed Ryan Dempster to assist in the starting rotation. Chicago’s bullpen took a hit when they elected not to re-sign Kerry Wood, instead picking up Kevin Gregg, who appears to be the set-up man for new closer Carlos Marmol. Chicago also let Mark DeRosa go to a trade, which may hinder the Cubs versatility. The starting rotation of Carlos Zambrano, Rich Harden, Ryan Dempster and Ted Lilly Chicago should have a rotation that can match anyone in baseball. Harden appears to be the starting pitcher every seven days to give his arm a rest. The question for Chicago is who can fill in as the fifth pitcher, and also the health of Harden, who has had arm problems year after year. With the addition of Kevin Gregg, along with Chad Gaudin, the Cubs bullpen should be solid in the back end, but will Marmol be ready to fill the role as the closer for the Cubs? Offensively, Bradley should help an already powerful lineup with Alfonso Soriano, Derrick Lee and Aramis Ramirez in the mix. Centerfield will be a rotation of Kosuke Fukudome and Reed Johnson. Fukudome sort of lost some love with the Chicago fans after a dismal second half of the season.

In Sarasota Florida the Cincinnati Reds have high hopes for a 2009 season. A year after finishing 74-88 for fifth place in the NL Central the Reds have gotten younger and healthier. General Manager Walt Jocketty elected not to re-sign Adam Dunn or Ken Griffey Jr., instead adding Willy Tavaras and Ramon Hernandez to the mix. Cincinnati will definitely be counting on young talent, as opposed to aging veterans. The left field position is the most challenging position in Sarasota, as it appears to be a battle between Jerry Hairston Jr., Chris Dickerson, Jonny Gomes and newcomer Jacque Jones. Hairston spent his 2008 season playing in 80 games, hitting a career high .326. Dickerson played in just 31 games as a rookie, hitting .304 with 6 homeruns, and Gomes comes over from Tampa Bay with good talent, but questionable defense. Jones has been around, and is spending another season in a different uniform. Jay Bruce, Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips should anchor the offensive load, but pitching is where the major question marks lie. Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto, along with Homer Bailey have an abundance of talent, but consistency has yet to be seen. Bailey spent last season up and down, and while with the big club, he went 0-6 with a 7.93 era. Volquez came up with a CY Young type season in 2008 starting 32 games and picking up a 17-6 record and a 3.21 era. Cueto struggling during 2008 starting 31 games, winning 9 and losing 14. Cueto’s era ballooned up to 5+ at one point in the season, finally settling at 4.81 on the season. Aaron Harang had a horrid 2008 season going 6-17 with a 4.78 era. His season snapped a string of four straight year of winning 10+ games. One guy to look out for is youngster Yonder Alonso. Alonso was the 7th pick in the 2008 draft. He has big time power, but with Joey Votto manning first base, Cincinnati may have to do some creative thinking.

When your top free agent signing is a 36-year-old pitcher that has made just 13 starts in three seasons, things are not promising. Mike Hampton will join the Houston Astros pitching staff that will once again be anchored by Roy Oswalt. The rest of the staff is very questionable, with Wandy Rodriguez, Brandon Backe and Brian Moehler looking to find consistency. If one falters, look for Bud Norris to get a look with the big team. Norris has a fastball upwards of 97mph and had scouts drooling in the Arizona Fall League The Astros come into the season after finishing in third place in 2008 with an 86-75 record, due in large part to Oswalt and Lance Berkman. Berkman will once again man first base for the Astros. In 2008 Berkman hit .312 with 29 homeruns and 106 knocked in. Brad Ausmus has left the team after several years, and the spring training battle is at the catchers’ position. Houston has Jason Castro waiting in the wings, but until then guys like Humberto Quintero, J.R. Towles and Toby Hall all will fight for playing time.

A year after the Milwaukee Brewers reached the playoffs, they come into their spring training home in Phoenix Arizona with a bevy of questions for the 2009 season. After losing both CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets to free agency, the Brewers are going to search hard for quality starting pitching. The Brewers signed Braden Looper to go along with Yovani Gallardo, Manny Parra and Chris Capuano. Looper looks to be an innings eater for a young staff. Gallardo hopes this is the year he turns his electric stuff into a staff ace. Gallardo missed most of the 2008 season with an injury, as did left-hander Chris Capuano. The Brewers recently released set-up man Eric Gagne to go rehab a shoulder that has been bothering him for sometime. Milwaukee will need some help from the bullpen in order to compete at the level they did in 2008. To close games for Milwaukee will be 41-year-old Trevor Hoffman. Hoffman posted his worst ERA since 1995 in 2008 with a 3.77. Offensively, the Brewers should have enough to compete. With Ryan Braun turning himself into a mega star, along with big man Prince Fielder manager Ken Macha will have an enjoyable time putting the pieces together in the lineup. Bill Hall struggled at the plate last year, but will seemingly improve upon his .225 average. If he is not able to get the job done, veteran Mike Lamb and youngsters Matt Gamel and Casey McGehee will get a definite look. At shortstop J.J Hardy should be the every day starter, but if he is not able to produce look for Alcides Escobar to his shot. Regarded as a top defensive player in the minor league, Escobar also hit .328 in Double A last season.

In Bradenton Florida, the Pittsburgh Pirates are looking to end a 16-year streak in which the team finished below .500. This season looks to continue that streak unless some of the young talent they have attempted to stockpile can come through. After trading Jason Bay away in 2008 Pittsburgh finished the season 17-37 to finish 67-95. The Pirates did very little in the way of free agency in 2009, as they signed Ramon Vazquez and Eric Hinske. Hinske is coming off his best season in the major leagues since he won Rookie of the Year in 2002. Adam and Andy LaRoche will anchor the offense along with Nate McLouth. The question with the LaRoche brothers is, can they put two halves together? Adam LaRoche hit .304 in the second half of the season after putting up horrid numbers in the first half in 2008. His brother Andy, who will man third base, has not quite lived up to the hype that made him the Dodgers top prospect a few years ago. Pittsburgh relies heavily on the LaRoche brothers, so the sooner they can provide solid offense, the better. Gold Glover Nate McLouth may be on his way to moving to left field to make room for a power hitting prospect in Andrew McCutchen. The 22 year old spent last season in AAA Indianapolis and appears to have all the tools for a major league outfielder. It will be tough to remove McLouth from the lineup anytime soon, as his 2008 season was solid hitting .276 and banging 26 homeruns. He also hit for 46 doubles, leading the team. Manager John Russell is scratching his head with the starting rotation in place, but hopefully for Pittsburgh new pitching coach Joe Kerrigan can calm some of the youngsters on the staff down, and turn them into winners.

For the St. Louis Cardinals, three years removed from their tenth World Series Championship, the team appears to be stuck in a period of transition. With general manager John Mozeliak in his second year on the job, he has done a nice job of developing the farm system, but has yet to produce a championship caliber team at the professional level. The Cardinals drew over 3.4 million fans and they have the NL MVP, but as a whole, fall just short of playoff contention. At 86-76 last season, the Cardinals may have upgraded at shortstop, signing Khalil Greene, and letting Adam Kennedy go. Greene hit just .213 last season, but appears to be a better hit than that, and has more pop than Kennedy. Troy Glaus is going to miss the first two months of the season, so who will fill in at third base, and support Albert Pujols in the lineup is the big question. As the Cardinals train in Jupiter Florida they are keeping a keen eye on the 2005 CY Young award winner Chris Carpenter. He claims he is feeling great, and others are saying he is pitching well. Dave Duncan the Cardinals pitching coach has done miracle work with aging players before; he will be looked heavily upon to work Carpenter back into form. With Carpenter healthy, and adding in Adam Wainwright the Cardinals could have a 1-2 punch that very few could match in the national league. After those two the Cardinals rotation could get choppy, with Kyle Lohse seemingly grabbing the #3 position. Colby Rasmus, a five-tool stud appears to be heading to the big leagues this season. Rasmus has been the “can’t miss prospect” for St. Louis the past couple of years, but was sidelined by a knee injury last June. Many call him the National League’s version of Grady Sizemore. Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick should man the outfield for St. Louis. Ludwick had a dream season in 2008, one that made him an All Star, and Ankiel found his power stroke. Skip Schumacher appears to be heading to second base, a position he grew up playing but has not played professionally. Out of the bullpen young fireballers Chris Perez and Jason Motte will be added with guys like free agent signees Dennys Reyes and Trever Miller, along with Ryan Franklin and Josh Kinney. The closer position appears to be a closer-by-committee role, but if Perez can prove consistency, he looks to be the best option.